Is football doomed?

Thursday

Sep 21, 2017 at 3:44 PM

The question in the headline above is perhaps overstated. Football does not currently face actual extinction, but there's plenty of evidence that it's in decline of late in terms of attendance, TV ratings and, most importantly, participation. And let's not have it said that the controversy over conspicuous protests staged by Colin Kaepernick and certain other […]

Pat Cunningham

The question in the headline above is perhaps overstated. Football does not currently face actual extinction, but there's plenty of evidence that it's in decline of late in terms of attendance, TV ratings and, most importantly, participation.

And let's not have it said that the controversy over conspicuous protests staged by Colin Kaepernick and certain other players during the playing of the National Anthem is a major factor in the fall-off of public interest in football.

Dismay with Kaepernick's actions has nothing whatever to do with the broader difficulties faced by the gridiron sport. Kaepernick is completely a non-issue when it comes to the growing number of high schools and small colleges dropping their football programs. The same goes for the growing trend of parents discouraging their sons from playing this dangerous sport.

Boiled down to its essence, this issue is one of violence — and science. We've learned in recent years that playing football runs the risk, if not the likelihood, of sustaining brain damage. Serious injuries involving limbs and such are commonplace, of course, but the focus in recent years is on the scrambling of the players' brains.

But there's no easy way to meet the challenge on this issue. You can't turn the sport as it's long been played in the Big Time into a modern version of touch football. Alright, maybe you could, but it wouldn't be very popular. The inescapable fact of the matter is that football involves a lot bumping of heads. They've changed the rules in recent years in an effort to minimize head injuries, but the problem persists.

The lords of football might someday find a new technology in the manufacture of players' helmets that significantly reduces serious head injuries. But I'm not going to hold my breath.

Meanwhile, the sport will continue to struggle with other issues that have somehow alienated — or bored — some of its erstwhile fans. But it won't be easy. Football is over-exposed and over-hyped. And it's so awash in money that it runs the risk of losing touch with fans of the lunch-bucket variety.

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